As a “safe” form of art and a bridge to other types of art-making – Art therapists often need to be able to work with clients who are not comfortable doing art or are hesitant about trying art therapy.

This book stopped me being able to do that and really freed up my imagination so that I felt able to add orange and purple to an owl, green to buildings, and bright blue to the chameleon. In addition to the blog, I see clients in private practice, enjoy making art, reading, and spending time in nature, and have fun with my family. Some images are more intricate than others but actually this book is very well suited to the majority of you because of the wide-ranging content.and I said, ‘A little bit of walking and I color at night,’” said Dettone over the phone, outing herself as an adherent of a suddenly trendy hobby – adult coloring. Richard has worked with many book and editorial publishing houses, design groups, advertising agencies and more, on lots of varied projects, from children's books and packaging to magazines and costume illustration for film.

Because of coloring, however, she’s drawn again for the first time in a long time, using Johanna Basford’s books, which include blank spots where the author encourages people to add their own elements to scenes.There are no rules or complicated step-by-step instructions in these pages and no need for expensive art and craft supplies.

The American Art Therapy Association is dedicated to the belief that making art is healing and life enhancing. For me, as an anxious colourer, it’s different from any other book I’d seen before because almost every image has some colour already added to it. I’m doing the fox from the front cover, for instance, and it comes with a coloured background and some sections of the head already coloured. Although not a fully original creation, many client feels very proud of their completed coloring pages, especially if they have not considered themselves to be traditionally “artistic.Around the same time, coloring pages had shown up in the inpatient/PHP facility where I did art therapy groups. Thank you to Rebecca Wilkinson for leading her focus group at the 2018 AATA Conference on this topic and sharing some great thoughts on why art therapists should consider using coloring books. Drena Fagen, an art therapist and an adjunct instructor at New York University’s Steinhardt School, has a rosier view of the books, and said she has actually used them in therapy sessions. If someone is able to focus their attention on the coloring page, and not on the negative thoughts and feelings, they often experience a decrease in anxiety, sadness, and other uncomfortable emotions. Debra Dettone, a 52-year-old preschool teacher who lives in Harrison, Ohio, was having some anxiety over her job recently.

When coloring your Art Therapy coloring book, you can use whatever art supplies you may already have around. It really is fantastic for all of you anxious colourers out there who agonise about colours and often feel increased tension at the sight of a blank white page with black lines on. The Strawberry Post is unfortunately not responsible for the amount of ads currently running on this site and apologises for any inconvenience this causes visitors.

My way to approach this has been to make mandala coloring pages available when the group therapy directive is to draw a mandala. A huge range of themes is contained within this book and while it’s not the most delicate, it really is an essential book to add to your collection. I was often annoyed to see the term “art therapy” showing up on coloring books covers, didn’t really enjoy coloring books personally, and assumed that in a therapy setting they would only serve to get in the way of clients creating “real” art.